Braff’s ‘Wish’ doesn’t pay off

Zach Braff in ‘Wish I Was Here.’

Photo courtesy of Focus Features and AP

By Jocelyn Noveck - Associated Press

Published: Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 12:21 PM.

When Zach Braff took to Kickstarter to fund his new movie, “Wish I Was Here,” he explained to fans where their money would go: It would ensure his creative control, allow him to cast the actors he wanted, and enable him to shoot in Los Angeles, rather than someplace cheaper.

We can argue about whether these were worthy reasons to ask for $2 million (in fact, fans ultimately gave Braff more than $3 million, after which he also got traditional financing.) Certainly there was controversy — maybe not deserved — over whether a wealthy actor should be seeking money on Kickstarter. (If people are willing to pay, isn’t it up to them?)

But here’s a more urgent question: Why didn’t Braff use this money to make a better film?

For all the brouhaha, “Wish I Was Here,” which Braff directed, stars in and wrote (along with brother Adam), is so much less interesting than the circumstances of its making — not terrible, just frustratingly mediocre, and also corny, overly broad, meandering, not so funny where it intends to be, and not so sad where it intends to be, either.

And that’s a shame, because it’s taken Braff 10 years to get a followup to his debut, “Garden State,” into theaters. Fans of that film — presumably, they’re the ones who ponied up cash— deserved something better.

Braff plays Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor in LA in his mid-30s, who’s far luckier in the family department than he deserves: He has two nice kids and a gorgeous, generous wife, Sarah (a very solid Kate Hudson). The movie is filled with jokes that don’t seem particularly thought out. Maybe you’ll find this hilarious: at one point, one of the kids confuses al-Qaeda with weatherman Al Roker.

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When Zach Braff took to Kickstarter to fund his new movie, “Wish I Was Here,” he explained to fans where their money would go: It would ensure his creative control, allow him to cast the actors he wanted, and enable him to shoot in Los Angeles, rather than someplace cheaper.

We can argue about whether these were worthy reasons to ask for $2 million (in fact, fans ultimately gave Braff more than $3 million, after which he also got traditional financing.) Certainly there was controversy — maybe not deserved — over whether a wealthy actor should be seeking money on Kickstarter. (If people are willing to pay, isn’t it up to them?)

But here’s a more urgent question: Why didn’t Braff use this money to make a better film?

For all the brouhaha, “Wish I Was Here,” which Braff directed, stars in and wrote (along with brother Adam), is so much less interesting than the circumstances of its making — not terrible, just frustratingly mediocre, and also corny, overly broad, meandering, not so funny where it intends to be, and not so sad where it intends to be, either.

And that’s a shame, because it’s taken Braff 10 years to get a followup to his debut, “Garden State,” into theaters. Fans of that film — presumably, they’re the ones who ponied up cash— deserved something better.

Braff plays Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor in LA in his mid-30s, who’s far luckier in the family department than he deserves: He has two nice kids and a gorgeous, generous wife, Sarah (a very solid Kate Hudson). The movie is filled with jokes that don’t seem particularly thought out. Maybe you’ll find this hilarious: at one point, one of the kids confuses al-Qaeda with weatherman Al Roker.